confound

[ kon-found, kuhn-; kon-found ]

verb (used with object)

1. to perplex or amaze, especially by a sudden disturbance or surprise; bewilder; confuse:

   The complicated directions confounded him.

   Synonyms: astound, nonplus, daze, dumbfound

2. to throw into confusion or disorder:

   The revolution confounded the people.

3. to throw into increased confusion or disorder.
4. to treat or regard erroneously as identical; mix or associate by mistake:

   truth confounded with error.

5. to mingle so that the elements cannot be distinguished or separated.
6. to damn (used in mild imprecations):

   Confound it!

7. to contradict or refute:

   to confound their arguments.

8. to put to shame; abash.
9. Archaic.
   1. to defeat or overthrow.
   2. to bring to ruin or naught.
10. Obsolete. to spend uselessly; waste.

confound

/ kənˈfaʊnd /

verb

1. to astound or perplex; bewilder
2. to mix up; confuse
3. to treat mistakenly as similar to or identical with (one or more other things)
4. kɒnˈfaʊnd to curse or damn (usually as an expletive in the phrase confound it! )
5. to contradict or refute (an argument, etc)
6. to rout or defeat (an enemy)
7. obsolete.
   to waste

Derived Forms

• conˈfoundable, adjective
• conˈfounder, noun

Other Words From

• con·found·a·ble adjective
• con·found·er noun
• in·ter·con·found verb (used with object)
• pre·con·found verb (used with object)
• un·con·found verb (used with object)

Word History and Origins

Origin of confound¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English conf(o)unden, from Anglo-French confoundre, from Latin confundere “to mix,” equivalent to con- con- + fundere “to pour”

Word History and Origins

Origin of confound¹

C13: from Old French confondre, from Latin confundere to mingle, pour together, from fundere to pour

Example Sentences

One thing Kaleido has been careful to demonstrate — and it’s sad to think that this is a differentiator — is that its products work with people whose skin tone and hair confound other solutions.

From TechCrunch

That framing puts the wellbeing of business over the wellbeing of people, to already confounding results.

From Eater

We’ve bought into the fiction that the management structures and systems that confound and constrain us can be amended only by those at the top of the pyramid, or by their appointees in HR, planning, finance, and legal.

From Quartz

Bamboozle is one of those words that has been confounding etymologists for centuries.

From Everything After Z

Samuel Scarpino, a professor at Northeastern University who studies infectious diseases, said that it can be very difficult, even in a sophisticated model, to separate all of the confounding factors that could be at play, like geography.

From FiveThirtyEight

The increase in recognition of autism spectrum disorders in Western countries continues to confound and confuse.

From The Daily Beast

Patriarchy is powerful, but it is also fragile, and transgender people confound its simple dichotomies.

From The Daily Beast

Yet, as a whole, the events that transpired between 1900 and 2000 B.C.E. still manage to confound the contemporary imagination.

From The Daily Beast

He may be an exception, but his example proves that grace can confound the expectations and machinations of curial politics.

From The Daily Beast

To complicate and confound matters further, North Korea has done more than simply throw grenades.

From The Daily Beast

“Confound it, no;” rejoined Mr. Simmery, stopping for an instant to smash a fly with the ruler.

From Project Gutenberg

Then confound your slow coaches down here; thats all, said the doctor, walking away.

From Project Gutenberg

Weld is a totally distinct word from woad, but most dictionaries confound them.

From Project Gutenberg

These proverbs remind us of Bacon: "Specious words confound virtue."

From Project Gutenberg

What has happened between you and the communiers, whom may the pest carry off and hell confound!

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• amaze
• astonish
• astound
• baffle
• bewilder
• discombobulate
• dumbfound
• embarrass
• faze
• mystify
• perplex
• puzzle
• rattle
• startle
• surprise